


Ash Dispersal Pattern // Show Must Go On

by bryar6



Series: Zouxie Week 2020 [5]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Ash Dispersal Pattern, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Original Character(s), Original Song, POV Alternating, POV Outsider, Singing, Zouxie Week 2020, Zouxie Week Day 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:01:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27425368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bryar6/pseuds/bryar6
Summary: Zoe and Douxie have returned to Arcadia for a show with Ash Dispersal Pattern, with a brand new song. Mike, the bassist, notices some new developments between his bandmates.Sometime after the events of  ‘Magic // Have it All’ and after chapter 8(and soon to be chap 9) of 'Saudade.' So if you'd like to be less confused, read those two. Not necessary, however.
Relationships: Douxie & Ash Dispersal Pattern, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan & Zoe, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan/Zoe
Series: Zouxie Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994584
Comments: 11
Kudos: 16





	Ash Dispersal Pattern // Show Must Go On

**Author's Note:**

> I hit up my friends at like 1:30am(while simultaneously stress-watching Megamind with the picture in picture on my laptop over the top of my google doc) trying to beat a plot out of this work with a stick and I was like “hey y’all I need some tropes” and one said POV outsider and the other said “angst???” and I said “I can work with that” so here ya have it. Of course, there's fluff to soothe y'all and myself. 
> 
> You might be asking "which Don McLean song did Bryar use this time?" butttttt(drumroll, please).... this is an original song!!! Not my best work, as I write freeform poetry and not song lyrics, but I still think it's good enough. I haven't decided on a name for it; if I do I'll edit this note.

“Hey, Zoe!” 

Zoe startles out of her thoughts, nearly dropping her sheet music. “Jesus, Casperan, no need to shout.” The lanky wizard waves, crossing the stage to her, two leather jackets in hand. 

“I need your opinion. This one?” He holds up one that’s considerably plain, but sleek. “Or this one?” The second is covered in patches and spikes and spray-painted stencil lettering. 

“Well, we’re going a little more classic, so stick with simple,” she says, pointing to the first one. “Though I’m always fond of the crazier stuff. Actually, you know what, give me that.” 

She snatches the spiked leather jacket from his hands and slips into it. “There. Now we match.” 

“More or less. Probably less. It’s okay, the fans know you’re the crazy one anyways.” He smirks as she shoves at him on her way past. 

“Shut it, that was one time,” she groans, rubbing her forehead. 

“I still think I should frame the photo of you crowdsurfing. That was a sight to see.” He follows her backstage and behind the curtains, pushing aside empty boxes and cases that had held their various tech just an hour ago.

“Don’t start, please,” Zoe begs. He finds a mirror and peers intently at his reflection, rummaging through a makeup bag on the little table and finding some black lipstick. He looks at her in the mirror as she searches. 

“I’m just having a little fun. The nerves are starting up and all, I’m easing the tension.” He hums to himself as he applies the lipstick, satisfied. 

“You’re going to cause me a tension migraine before the show even starts. First off, new music, and then secondly, it’s been months since we’ve done anything big like this.” Zoe yanks hard on a stuck cord and topples a speaker. Douxie cringes and rights it, hoping it’s not damaged. He supposes they’ll find out and Mike will personally strangle Douxie if it is. 

“It’s like you said. We should try to maintain our normal lives a little bit, here and there. It’s keeping us sane,” he reasons. She throws him an unimpressed look. 

“You literally were in hysterics last night about this show. I don’t think you count as sane.” She shows obvious tension in her body, each action more forceful than necessary. He realizes that she’s also quite restless, by the looks of it. She’s never loved the stage quite like he does, but she talks about it all the time afterwards and never has stage fright. There’s something else at play here. 

He comes up to stand behind her and gently tugs her hand away from a mic she was about to pick up. “Hey, Zoe, you alright?” 

“Yes, I’m fine,” she says, tearing her arm away. She stalks across the stage and slams the door behind her, the sound of heavy footsteps fading as she likely heads for the parking lot. He sighs. Archie headbutts him and points his chin after her. 

“Go on,” Archie prods. “I can’t do everything for you.” 

Douxie nods and follows. Offstage, he glances around for her, and finds her in her car sitting in the parking lot, where they had parked half an hour ago. The show wasn’t for another couple of hours and he knows a little sidetracking can’t hurt. He approaches and knocks on the window. He catches a wave of her hand and lets himself in, closing the door after him. 

“So, what’s the plan?” 

“Douxie, I’m not sure I really want to do this.” Zoe looks at him from where she sits slouched in the driver’s seat. Her hair falls into her eyes and she lets out a shaky breath. “Don’t you remember what happened last time?” 

“The world nearly ended and Arcadia went up in flames? Yeah, I remember it pretty well.” Douxie remembers the sky darkening, Claire’s warning from up on stage where she tried with futility to warn the others. He’d known something was off that day, he’d sensed a dark magic growing. But after so many years without feeling a greater magic power, he was just a little numb to it. 

“You remember what else happened,” she mumbles, not really asking a question. He bites his lip, nodding. 

“I know, Zoe. I’m so sorry.” He reaches out and takes her hand. She clenches his hand in return. 

He recalls it with an ache. Arcadia had lost a number of innocent and helpless residents that day. And unbeknownst to many others, Arcadia had also lost a couple hedgewizards. Zoe had been there to see it all. Two of her coworkers from Hex Tech had raced out of the store at the growing earthquakes and headed for the source, instructing Zoe to stay where she was. But Zoe being Zoe had not listened, and instead ran out and immediately headed for Douxie. Before she could even reach him, half the town was overrun by massive, staff-wielding Gumm-Gumms, and her coworkers were battling them with nothing more than their electricity magic. Unlike Zoe's, theirs was a weaker form that had only developed in recent years with the spread of electricity and technology. It was great for charging your phone or handling live wires, but it was like a mild static shock to these creatures. Zoe has true lightning magic; something quite powerful and damaging if used incorrectly. Had she been in time, she swears she could have saved them. Douxie remembers searching almost endlessly for Zoe that afternoon, finally finding her sobbing over two piles of scattered ash in the street. She blamed their deaths on her and Douxie’s present distractions and hadn’t forgiven herself for joining them. 

“It’s okay, Zoe. We’re all safe right now. And you’ll be with me. I promise, nothing will happen.” And this is a promise he makes with certainty. He’s determined to have some control over his life. Though there is the chance that getting information spread around might notify the Order. It’s all hard to say, ultimately. But in light of trying to hold some sense of normality in their already chaotic lives, he knows it’s for the best. 

“I guess. This had just better not go wrong.” There’s a light sense of pain in her voice and Douxie leans over to brush her hair from her face. He grins and ruffles it immediately after. “Ah, I spent all morning working on that.” 

“It’s fine. C’mon. If we don’t get back to the stage, Melissa’s gonna hold Archie hostage.” Zoe manages a small laugh at that. Douxie leans over and pops her door open, before turning and getting out on his side. They return to the stage arm in arm. 

*****************************

Mike checks the amps one more time before emerging onto the stage, gripping a mic. “Alright folks! I know it has been all summer since we’ve seen you guys last, and let’s just say, I hope we’re gonna give you a show to rock your world!” 

“Alright, alright, I’ll take it from here,” Douxie says, chuckling and picking up his guitar and leaning into his own mic. “So I’ve had some new developments and I’m not in the area as much as I’d like to be anymore, but not to fear! We’ll be back and hosting shows when we can. We’ve got a few new songs for you this afternoon and some classics, you know the drill.” Mike shakes his head and smiles. Douxie has always been quite the character, and while he doesn’t really know why he’s picked up a gig in NYC, he’s still here to support his friend. Something had changed about him, though. 

Douxie was noticeably wearier, and maybe even more matured. He holds himself with a newfound, quiet confidence that he’d never been known to command except in moments of anger or guidance. Not only that, but he’d seen a few intimate moments of him and Zoe earlier while they were putting the finishing touches on the makeup, and this time it feels different. But what’s a bystander like himself to say, anyways? Both Douxie and Zoe have always been a special case. 

Douxie steps away from the mic and nods to his bandmate, and he begins to strum his bass. The notes flow quietly and easily, quickly picking up into the song. Beside him, Douxie taps his foot to the beat, fingers dancing across the strings. Zoe behind them taps away at the drums, head moving in time. Mike has looked over the sheet music plenty, but it’s a new sound, one that he’d not really expected. It’s something a little more nostalgic, a little more longing and unsure. Not that he doesn’t like it, it’s just...not his style. But it certainly seems Douxie’s cup of tea(pun fully intended), by the way his eyes close as he bends over his mic and begins to sing.

“Woke up this morning...Sun shining in my eyes. Something told me it was a warnin’ … to stop chasing those highs. Don’t go looking for trouble, or so I’ve been told. It’ll come after you from the rubble...Anyways.” Douxie has a steady beat going with moderate speed to his singing, and Mike can’t figure out if he’s sampled a beat here or it’s just the rhymes that are making him think it. 

On the drums, Zoe quiets, leaning over into her own mic. Mike had at first rebuked this idea, especially seeing as involving a drummer singing and playing is just a musical disaster waiting to happen, but the short, pink-haired woman seems to have no trouble finding the right balance, on top of matching her voice with Douxie’s. 

“We’ve been here for damn near.... A thousand years… So here’s to living the life we’ve got. Cause we know it ain’t all for naught.” Mike notices how Douxie looks over his shoulder to Zoe as they sing, and then turns back, picking back up his notes on the guitar and stepping away from his own mic. Zoe pulls the mic closer. 

“Some days...Some days I want to wake up...Wake up....Find out where all that time went…” she sings softly, a surprising change from her usual preference to be yelling lyrics. Maybe this was just an artistic choice on Douxie’s part. She hums on a little, just barely noticeable. 

Mike picks up the new notes as Douxie returns to his mic. “Days spent in endless reflection.... A cycle with no direction... I’d look to the skies and I’d think of your eyes...Cuz you’ve always been the one, traveling miles under the sun...Beside me…” Mike just knows that Douxie wrote this song for Zoe, there’s no way he didn’t. But the choice to have Zoe singing half the lines was unusual even by Douxie’s standards. 

“I’ve been waiting for centuries...To see you again coming, down that beaten path. I want to hear you say “We’re going away” …I can’t stay without you, not today.” Zoe smiles at the blue-haired guitarist from across the stage and Mike almost feels like he’s the awkward third wheel here. He would be, if Melissa weren’t behind him on the keys. Not that the two of them finally admitting their feelings was a bad thing, he just didn’t really understand romance. Mike would be perfectly content without any relationships ever beside those with his friends. At least the next song was less gooey, he thinks to himself. And what was with Douxie’s lyrics, huh?

Both of them pick up in song again, but Zoe has abandoned the drumset and crossed to the guitarist, with a noticeable lack of a mic. She leans into Douxie’s mic. If Douxie was already too close to his mic, he was even closer now, lips basically brushing it. God, he recalled just how disrespectful the two of them were towards their setup. Not to mention, letting that cat sleep on warm electronics…

“Those days, those were the days. The days we thought we’d...never...leave behind.” They pause for just a moment and Mike fills the space with his notes. “It’s been forever since I met you. But I’d never take one moment back. Through the pain and through the rain...You’ve been my steady...The shoulder for me to cry. And I wouldn’t want it...Any other way.” Melissa and Mike work at the instrumental for a few moments, Douxie’s fingers flying over the strings, while Zoe just watches him and times the song with a tapping foot. “Won’t leave you, til the day I die. No, I won’t leave you, be always at your side...Til the day I die.” 

The refrain repeats a couple of times, but Mike has already lost himself in the ending of the song, the notes trailing out until it’s done. He steps away and finishes with a bow, his bandmates doing the same beside him. He notices just how fondly Douxie’s gaze is on Zoe and he smiles. _Young love,_ he thinks. Mike takes the mic from Douxie and introduces their next song with a squeal of notes on his bass. Douxie and Zoe grin. 

The rest of the show is going to be good. 

*****************************

A young teen with bright red hair and a face decorated in piercings pushes through the throng and stops Zoe. “Hey! Hey! Are you and Douxie still friends? Can you give us an update? What did that song mean?” 

A phone is held between her face and the fan’s, blocking her view. Zoe knows the camera is on and that anything she says will be used against her. Not to mention, their poor word choice and barrage of questions meant a vague answer would do fine. She raises an eyebrow, and then smiles. “No.” She attempts to move on, but is stopped by a hearty laugh from a tall figure standing in her path. 

“Zoe, that’s an awful way to tell them we’re dating,” Douxie says, grinning widely down at her. She stiffens in surprise and looks up, glaring hard at him. _Way to ruin my fun._

“As your stand-in manager, we’re getting you off the stage _right now_.” Zoe grabs his arm and drags him through the curtains, her grip almost painfully tight. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles, once they’re out of earshot. “But that was a great show out there.” 

“I guess I feel a bit better. I just had this feeling that something would go wrong, you know. I guess it didn’t, not in the end.” She breathes deeply and reaches out to pat Archie’s fur. “You can say “told you so” now.” 

“I’m not going to say that,” he retorts. “You had perfectly valid reasons for feeling that way. But we’re not gonna linger on it. We’re headed out to brunch with Jim and the others. Er, no, that’s not it, is it, it’s like 2pm, it can’t still be considered brunch.” 

Zoe smiles at him over her shoulder, a great many unspoken things in her eyes. “Okay. Yeah.” 

With Archie between them, they make their way down the street where their feet had walked a thousand times. For a brief moment, it's their golden days again.

**Author's Note:**

> And there you have it. This concludes my Zouxie week fics, but not to fear! A second chapter is coming to 'Formal Attire' and boy oh boy will it be a ride. Once I've recovered some, there will be an update to 'A Wizard's Beginnings' and 'Saudade' to boot. Thanks for following along, and if you haven't seen it already, go check out [this post](https://unexpected-possibilities.tumblr.com/post/634055358988615680)! It's a message from me to all of you lovely readers.


End file.
